Care was documented.Harm was ignored.The paperwork was perfect.When a child dies under "compliant supervision," the case is cleared before anyone asks what actually happened. The nonprofit responsible followed every rule-at least on paper. Audits were passed. Reports were closed. Liability disappeared.But one detail doesn't sit right.As the Afterline Bureau begins a quiet review, they uncover a system built not to protect children, but to outpace accountability. Documentation is generated faster than care. Transfers erase patterns. Internal reviews replace oversight. And the phrase standard of care becomes a shield behind which neglect hides comfortably.This isn't a conspiracy.There are no secret societies.No mythology.Just lawful language used to make harm acceptable.As the Bureau moves from intake to intervention, they confront an institution that believes compliance is enough-and will do anything to keep the record clean, even if it means children disappear between checkboxes.STANDARD OF CARE is a grounded, procedural thriller about modern institutional harm-how systems fail quietly, how responsibility is diluted through policy, and what it takes to interrupt a machine designed to close cases instead of protecting people.In a world where "doing everything right" can still mean doing nothing at all, Afterline asks one question: Who notices when care stops-and what happens when someone finally does?